


a party and a piano

by mistyheartrbs



Category: Love Live! Sunshine!!
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Alternate Universe - Pianist, Engagement Party, F/F, Meet-Cute, based on the sif wedding set, is that really an au though?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-20
Updated: 2018-06-20
Packaged: 2019-05-26 00:03:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,964
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14988410
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mistyheartrbs/pseuds/mistyheartrbs
Summary: Riko hadn't really wanted to come to this in the first place.





	a party and a piano

**Author's Note:**

> okay i lied, /this/ is the last fic of this bizarre long weekend. i love chikariko a lot.

Riko Sakurauchi had not wanted to come to this party, it should be noted. She'd never done well with crowds, but the bride was a friend of hers and she'd begged and begged Riko to play the piano. 

It paid well, and she wasn't one to turn that down, which was why she now navigated the crowd of near-strangers with a glass of wine in one hand and a book of sheet music in the other. 

"Hello?" she murmured, though she doubted anyone could even hear her over the din. Two women with their arms interlinked turned around. 

"Yes?" said the first one. _"Oh,_ did you wa-ant something?" One look at her expression and Riko could tell she was more than a little tipsy. Her girlfriend - _wife?_ \- kept a firm hold on her. 

"Sorry about Mari," the second sighed, extending her hand to shake Riko's. She awkwardly flapped the sheet music in response. "She's a party girl through and through, but I'm . . . not." 

"Ah, same here," Riko laughed. There was something about this woman that relaxed her. 

"I'm Kanan, by the way." 

"Riko." Mari started to slide off of Kanan's shoulder, and Kanan propped her back up. "I was wondering, is there a piano here? I'm supposed to be playing, but I haven't been able to find it." 

"Hmm, I wouldn't know that." Kanan paused, rubbing her chin for a moment. Mari started to slide again. 

_"Ka-naan,"_ she purred. "Wanna get out of here?" 

"How do you know her?" Riko asked, pointing in the direction of the bride, a former coworker of hers, if only because she'd run out of other conversation topics. Socializing had never been her strong suit. Neither was finding pianos, it seemed. 

"Oh, we grew up together. Small town, you know, everyone's sorta tight-knit. I think most of the people here are from Uchiura, actually." This did nothing to comfort Riko, but she nodded along anyways. "I wonder if Chika's here." 

"Maybe she is." Riko caught sight of sleek black wood and all but rushed for it. "Thank you, by the way!" she called behind her. Kanan smirked and hefted Mari back up on her shoulder again. 

***

Riko found it easy enough to slip away into her music. It might have been cliche to say so, but it was the truth and so she let that be. In any case, the party was lively and she was quiet, and both of those things suited her fine. The occasional guest would pass her with a compliment and a smile, but for the most part she was left to her own devices. 

That is, until a girl holding no less than four kebabs in her clenched fist sprang over, her smile threatening to spill over her face like everyone's champagne threatened to spill on the floor. 

"Hey, what song is that?" she asked, pointing to the piano for emphasis. 

"Do I know you?" 

"Hmm." The girl flopped over the piano, apparently mulling over this question very seriously. "Don't think so. I'm You's maid of honor." 

"Oh." 

"We've been best friends since we were little!" 

"I see." 

"What song is that?" 

"Oh, erm, it's a pop song from a few years ago. I usually tend to lean more towards classical, but this is a party, so . . ." 

"Oh!" The girl clapped her hands together. "I think I recognize it now." 

"So you do." Riko could feel her heart beating a little faster, but then again this was a lively party. She also had a pounding headache and cramps in her hands, but neither of _those_ meant anything, so this didn't either. Regardless, the chin-in-hand romance manga shoved under the bed in her apartment sprang to mind. "What's your name?" 

"Chika Takami!" Chika stretched out her free hand, then thought better of it and retracted her arm. 

_Chika._ So this was the girl Kanan had wondered about. "You had a friend looking for you," Riko said idly. It was getting harder to keep playing at a steady rate. "Kanan? Tall? Blue hair? Really, erm, buff?" 

"Kanan! Man, I haven't seen her in forever." Chika draped herself over the piano again, like some lady from the 1950s in a Hollywood movie. "You know, we were all really close when we were kids. Everyone from Uchiura, I mean." She laughed a little. Riko didn't know what was funny, exactly. "When you live in a small town, it's not like you've got many options, right?" 

"Right." 

"So, what's your story?" Chika leaned over, and Riko could see the depths reflected in her eyes, then dismissed this as her brain romanticizing things in the heat of a party like this. The depths were probably just those hanging lights scattered all about the rooftop. "Who're you?" 

"Riko Sakurauchi." 

"Ooh, formal." 

"Do you want me to tell you about myself or not?" 

"Go on, go on." 

"I've lived in Tokyo my entire life, and I make most of my living as a pianist for hire, which is ironic since I'm not one to seek out social situations." 

"I'll bet it gets you out of the house a lot, at least." Chika took a bite of one of the kebabs. 

"What?" 

"I mean, think about it. If you worked some home job or desk job or whatever, you'd avoid people. With this, you've gotta go out!" Chika trailed her hand along the edge of the piano, dangerously close to Riko. "Plus, you're really good." 

"Oh." Riko tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Thank you." 

"Don't mention it." Chika drummed her fingers in time with the song. "Hey, do you wanna get out of here?" 

"Aren't you really close with You?" 

"Yeah, but she's not gonna have the speeches for a while yet, so we've got some time. C'mon, I know a great place." Chika stood up and offered Riko her hand, and who was she to resist? Nobody seemed to pay attention as to whether there was a piano playing or not anyway.

***

Chika led her through winding hallways and massive, sleek elevators. 

"I dunno why You-chan decided to have her party here instead of on, like, a boat or something. Did you know she's really into nautical stuff?" Riko did know that, in fact. You was not a subtle person. "I think she's probably saving it for the wedding. Like, it'd be kinda stale if she did it twice, so she'll get married on a boat, right?" 

"Probably." Riko hadn't even thought that far. Would You invite her to the wedding, too? Would she have to play for hundreds of the same strangers? Would she see Chika again? "So, where are you taking me?" 

"It's a surprise," Chika whispered, eager and devilish, taking her by the hand and flinging open the gigantic glass doors to reveal the entrance to the building. Riko supposed she'd be more relieved by the fresh air if she hadn't been on a rooftop less than ten minutes ago. The wind was refreshing but not overpowering, as it had been on the roof, and Chika seemed to know exactly where she wanted to be. "You-chan had me help her scout out the place when she was planning it." 

"Oh." Riko looked around as Chika kept walking, heading to the side of the building. Some plants in stone flowerboxes drifted softly in the breeze. 

"I never really thought she'd get married, to be honest." Riko couldn't see Chika's face, and she had no idea what it looked like at the moment. Her shoulders hunched. "We were sort of a thing in middle school. Puppy love, you know. She was more into it than me." 

"I'm . . . sorry." Riko had never been good at these social situations, and this whole night was just there to prove she still wasn't. 

"No, no, it's all good! She met this girl - total opposite of her, by the way, all uptight and commanding - and they're happy together and that's what counts, right?" 

"Are you alright?" Chika tossed her hands up in the air in response. 

"Hey, it looks like we're here!" Riko had to stifle a gasp. There, tucked between the building and some apartment complex, was a tiny garden, fairy lights strung above with flowers all poking out wherever they could. It felt like she'd stepped into another world. 

"It's beautiful," she breathed. Chika slung an arm around her as easily as the drunken Mari had around Kanan.

"I know, right?" Chika cupped a hand to her face, smiling contentedly. _"I_ wanted her to have the party _here,_ but she said it was 'too small' and 'the guests won't be able to find it, Chika."' 

"Thank you." Riko wasn't sure if she could say anything else. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she thought of the chin-in-hand kisses and brick walls that populated her secret stash. She cleared out those thoughts rather quickly, though. Just because this random stranger had led her to a beautiful secret garden filled with twinkling lights and-

Oh, who was she kidding. This was _exactly_ like what she read on the daily. 

"Do you wanna know a secret?" Chika whispered, sidling up so close that Riko felt she might explode. 

"Sure?" 

"I mostly came here for the food. I mean, for You-chan too, but mainly the food." 

"Oh." Riko had to admit - she wasn't really in the habit of hiding things from herself anymore, at least not right now - that she'd hoped Chika's secret was something a little more exciting. 

"Anyway, this place is really pretty, huh?" Chika pressed down on a leaf so it eagerly sprung back up a moment later. 

"It is." 

"I think I could just stay here forever." She sat down at this, bunching up her dress so it served as a barrier between her and the cold stone ground, then patted the space beside her. Riko nodded and sat down. "Couldn't you?" 

"I'll have to go back to the party eventually." Ever the realist. Ever the poor handler of social situations. Riko wanted to shove her hand in her mouth, but that meant it wouldn't be able to hold Chika's. 

"Not right now, though." Chika put her hand on the ground, and Riko held it. "We can just stay here for now." 

"Yeah." Riko couldn't remember the last time she'd felt this peaceful. It must have been in elementary school. "Hey, Chika?" 

"Yeah?" 

"Could I kiss you?" Chika all but jumped back at this, and for a moment Riko felt she'd made the absolute worst mistake of her life. _You just met her, you idiot, why would you say that? Why would you mess this up? What if she's dating someone? What if she's not even into girls?_

"Not right now!" Chika's cheeks were pink, and this was something Riko tried not to think about. "We don't even know each other! We have to go on some dates first." This was a surprisingly rational explanation, coming from a girl who had taken a complete stranger from her paid position at the piano and dragged her to a secret garden. "Which reminds me . . ." Reaching into her bag (which, Riko was absolutely certain, contained more poached food), Chika pulled out a scrap of paper and scribbled something on it, handing it to Riko. "So we can get to know each other after this!" 

"Oh." Riko looked at the paper, and just as expected it was a phone number, written in chicken scratch but still legible. "Thank you." 

"Don't mention it!" Chika gave her a wink and a pair of finger guns. "I think I wanna get to know you better." 

Maybe it was the weirdness of the night, maybe it was the way romance in the air, Riko didn't know, but she surprised herself with what she said next. 

"I do, too."

**Author's Note:**

> initially i had diayou as a sort of "pair the spare" ship but now i'm kind of into it? crazy how these things turn out


End file.
